Moments in Life
by SereneCalamity
Summary: Falling for someone isn't always obvious in the first minutes or hours. Sometimes it can take years to put together the important moments in life and realize who makes them that way. Dotty.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! This is going to be my background story, I've got a couple going at the moment, and this was only meant to be a oneshot, but I got to almost five thousand words and I wasn't even past the first part of the story! So I decided to make it a multi chapter! I'm really sorry about any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, I'm really tired and I just wanted to get this up!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the plot and any mistakes. Many apologies. _

Dominic Toretto's eighteenth was definitely a weekend to remember. Ricky and Ellie Toretto took Dom and the closest of his friends out for a dinner at an expensive restaurant in town, which ended up racking a bill that was more than their rent for the week. The boys ate almost their weight in food, and the girls were close behind. Mia Toretto, Dom's younger sister, probably ate the least, and she had at least two servings of dinner before moving onto a heaped bowl of desert. Vince Martin ate more than his fair share of garlic bread, leading to Ellie needing to order a whole new plate for the table. Ricky even ordered a round of beer for the table, for everyone except the two girls. The parents tried to play off that it was a special occasion, even though they knew their son got up to more than a little in the alcoholic department in the weekends they weren't around. Leticia Ortiz managed to convince Jesse Lomas, the youngest and the most lenient of the boys, to give her a sip of his beer, which she screwed up her nose at as she swallowed. He grinned at her before taking it back and easily drinking the amber liquid until the bottle was empty.

The next night, the Saturday, was the night that everyone had been waiting for though. Ricky and Ellie had agreed to go and stay with friends for the night and give the boys free reign of the house. As much as Dom had put up an argument about his sister and her bestfriend being there, his parents had said that if they were going to have a party, it wasn't fair that Mia and Letty had to miss out. However, they also had to look out for the two girls because if Ricky heard that they had gotten drunk or been touched by one of the older boys, Dom would get a smack over the head. Dom had to admit, though, it wasn't the girls he was thinking about Saturday night at eleven thirty when he had consumed more alcohol than he had ever had in his life and he had two of the girls from the cheerleading squad rubbing up against him. It was no secret that Dom was the popular guy in school; with the girls it was because of his good looks, naturally charming personality and muscular figure. With the girls it was because he drove the best car in the school, was well known for sneaking out to the races in the weekends and given the more experienced drivers a run for their money, and due to his mature physique he managed to get alcohol without being asked for ID. So it was no surprise when two of the most popular—and slutty—girls in the school had decided to team up as a 'combined birthday present'. Dom had had sex before, clearly, however he had never had two girls at the same time. When one o'clock rolled around and he was at a perfect level of drunk, enough so that he really didn't give a shit what was going on but that he knew he would still be able to perform sexually and enjoy everything those girls were willing to offer.

"If any of you guys even think about crashing in my room tonight, I _will _snap your cocks in half," Dom muttered as he passed Jesse, Vince and Leon Eppes on his way upstairs. The boys all gave him grins as they noted the stumbling, leggy females who were each under an arm of the eldest Toretto. Upstairs, the two girls followed him to his room, giggling and touching each other as they all tangled together on his bed.

It was one of the most erotic experiences of his eighteen years. He lay back, arms tucked behind his head as he let the two girls do the work. First they wrapped their arms around each other, one on each side of his body, their mouths moving expertly over each others. They looked as though they had done this a couple times before, but Dom didn't care. He was going to use protection, and he really had no feeling for either of the girls, they were only good for screwing given neither of them had much of a personality to speak of. So he really didn't mind. And when they both started pulling at his clothes, he _really _didn't mind. One dropped her mouth to envelop his arousal while the other kissed his mouth, her teeth tugging at his lower lip and hand running over his shaved head. Dom groaned into the girls mouth as the one with her lips wrapped around him began to move her mouth faster, her tongue swirling around his tip and fondling his sac. She brought him close to an orgasm before pulling away, and then the two girls kissed again, tongues flicking out over each others and both pushing their fingers into each other and grinding against one anothers hands. Dom watched, licking his lip, eyes glazed with lust.

They then both turned back to him, fingers still busy between each others legs. The first one, Camille or Carla or something beginning with a C, pulled her hand away from her friend and sucked on her fingers. Dom groaned as she bent down and pressed her lips to his. He explored her mouth with his tongue, tasting the second girls arousal in C-girls mouth. The second girl pulled herself up, straddling Dom's legs, sinking down onto him, pulling her into her heat. Dom sighed, pulling away from the first girl, reaching for the girl who was riding him. He grasped her thighs, pulling her down harder on him, and then rubbing her hard against him, relishing the friction. The first girl turned and began rubbing her friends breasts, pulling at her nipples with one hand while the other worked between her legs to bring herself to her own orgasm.

Definitely the best birthday he had had so far.

* * *

Dom stumbled out of bed in the morning, his body sated and his head thundering. The two girls were still wrapped around each other in his bed, their clothes spread throughout the room. He pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and stumbled down to the bathroom, not bothering to shut the door as he took a piss and then dug around in the cupboard for some nurofen. As he was coming back out of the bathroom he stopped dead as he saw a brunette coming out of the end room, one of the spare bedrooms that a certain younger Latina was usually slept in when she stayed over. His eyes narrowed as he saw the girl doing up the zip on her mini shorts, shrugging on her oversized hoodie as she closed the door quietly.

"'The fuck, Letty?" Dom asked, his voice gruff. Her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth opened slightly. He glanced around the empty hallway before advancing on her and grasping her elbow, pulling her toward him and glaring down at the smaller girl. "Who the hell is in there?"

"Just a guy, Dom," Letty hissed, glancing nervously over her shoulder at the door.

"What _guy_?" He asked. "You're fucking sixteen."

"How old were you when you were screwing around?" She snapped at him.

"Hardly the point," he growled.

"It's exactly the point," she growled back. "And it's not like I'm your sister, you don't have a say over what I do." Dom's eyes widened at her words.

"Mia—is she…?" He didn't want to actually asked the question. Letty raised an eyebrow and a smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth.

"You're actually asking if your sister has had sex?" He winced at her words. "That's a little perverted, Dominic." He crossed his arms, still staring steadily at her. Letty rolled her eyes. "Look, Mia's flower remains perfectly petalled," her words dripped with sarcasm and if they weren't talking about his sisters virginity he might have laughed. "Look, my sex life is absolutely none of your business. And trust me," she glanced purposefully at his room. "I'm pretty sure the fact there are _two _girls in your room would be interesting news for Rick and El." He knew blackmail when he heard it and although he continued to glare at her, he didn't say anything else as she backed down the hall toward the stairs. He gave a short shake of his head before following her downstairs and blinking as he took in the mess that covered the lower floor of the house. Letty had disappeared and Vince and Leon were just waking up on the couch were it looked like they had passed out. They blinked up at him and gave him lazy smiles.

"Were they good?" Vince mumbled, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Dom smirked.

"Something I will definitely be repeating."

* * *

It was only three months later that the whole teams world came crashing down around them. Ricky and Ellie had gone out for a dinner date and been hit by a drunk driver on their way home. Ellie had died instantly on impact, while Ricky had held on with the Toretto stubbornness for almost a week before his body finally gave up. The house that had once been so filled with life and laughter and love fell quiet and dark. Dom barely came out of his room, emerging for the funeral, dressed in one of his fathers suit and his arms wrapped around the shoulder of his sister. The petite girl had cried so hard her body felt almost boneless and despite Dom's muscular figure, he couldn't hold his sisters weight. Vince had stepped in and taken the tiny girl in his arms, holding her up as they left the funeral, their cars a bright succession as they left the funeral. The red, blue and orange of the boys thousand dollar cars had never looked so out of place. Relatives were taken care of quickly and quietly when they showed up on the doorstep, usually by Vince or Leon, since Dom had once again locked himself in his room and Mia was either curled up on the couch or on her bed, wrapped in Letty's arms, crying to the point where her eyes were puffy and her throat was hoarse. It took weeks before Letty managed to get Mia back to school, a place she had loved.

Dom didn't bother going back at all.

DT's garage was always going to be his, after all, his father had named it after his initials when he had opened it several years after his son had been born. But it wasn't meant to fall to him for a long time. Neither was the responsibility of looking after his sister. After a month of cutting of all contact with everyone, he opened the garage, slaving hours after hours to keep up his fathers reputation of. The three boys quickly dropped out of school to join him, the four of them working together and eventually all living together in the Toretto family home. Letty dragged Mia to school every morning even though Letty herself hardly ever stayed for the full day. Dom didn't realize how much he relied on the girl until one morning she didn't show up and Mia stood listlessly in the living room, holding her oversized handbag in her hand, so low that it was dragging on the ground.

"Mia, uh," Dom cleared his throat. He had barely talked to his sister in months. He knew that he should be doing better, but he never knew what to say. The first few days they had both been shell shocked, and although at the funeral he had held Mia, they just hadn't had the time to connect since. He had always looked out for his sister, they had always been close, but there had just been too much going on in their lives. Mia chewed down on her lower lip, looking every day as young as her sixteen years. "W-where's Letty?" Mia shrugged, leaning against the doorframe and staring down at her feet. Dom pursed his lips together and looked over to where Jesse was sitting at the table, eating cereal. The boy just shrugged and glanced out the window. There was a distinct sound of an engine slowing down and Dom looked out the window as well, noticing a silver car slow down to the curb, and the Latina in question get out of the passenger side and made her way up to the house.

"Mia?" Letty called and Dom looked back at his sister, noticing the way she visibly perked up. A smile crossed his sisters features and her eyes brightened. "Come on, girl, we got a ride today." Dom narrowed his eyes as he looked back out the window. He didn't know anyone who drove a silver Holden Commodore, and frankly he was disappointed that _that _was who Letty was driving around with, but he didn't say anything. Before his sister disappeared out the door, he grasped her shoulder, turning her to face him.

"Uh, listen, Mia," he mumbled. "Me and you after school, you wanna go grab some ice cream? Go down to the beach?" It was something they used to do with their parents, not on a regular basis but at least a couple times a year. For the first time in months, Mia smiled at him, and it was directly at him.

* * *

That had been rock bottom for the team and as the months went by, they drew closer together and they slowly helped each other heal. There were still bad days, Mia missed a good few weeks off school in total and Leon, Vince and Jesse pulled several overnighters at the garage when Dom disappeared. No one knew where he went, that he drunk himself into a stupor at bars and then went home with girls and passed out in their beds. Sometimes, he didn't even leave the bar, he would be found in the back booth of a pub, hunched over the table. They didn't ask where he disappeared, partly out of respect, partly because they were honestly too scared to know. They didn't want to know what their boy was doing when he wasn't with them. Apart from those hiccups, they were doing better. More than not, Letty was also at their house, but Dom didn't mind. She had pretty much been part of the family for years now, and was the only one of Mia's friends that he and the boys didn't mind. Most of Mia's friends were doing the whole boy crazy thing, and would blush and giggle and flick their hair when him and the boys were around, and they wouldn't eat anything on the table when it came to dinner. Letty, on the other hand, could give the boys a run for their money with the amount consumed at the dinner table. They had all seen her walk around in her bra and underwear more than once, but apart from a couple of cheeky comments about her 'developing nicely' they hadn't viewed her as anything that could lead to something sexual. She also started coming to the garage a lot more, and Dom or Leon took her out a couple times a week for a driving lesson. She was a natural, and apart from Vince, she was the first one that Dom let behind the wheel of his car. The sixteen year old looked almost comical behind the wheel of his red Mazda RX-7, but her eyes were narrowed determinedly and she handled it well.

"Hey, Dom?" Letty's voice was quiet, which definitely wasn't usual for her. "You think that Mia would totally hate me if I went to the DR over the break?" Dom raised an eyebrow at her. Despite the fact she was always around, they didn't talk much about anything that mattered. Letty flexed her hands on the steering wheel of the RX-7 as they sat outside her house after Dom had taken her out driving for a few hours.

"What's in the DR?" He asked.

"Richard," she replied. "Uh, my dad." That peeked Dom's interest. As far as he had always known, Letty had nothing to do with her dad. He had taken off on her and her mum when she was little. She had never really talked about him any further than mentioning he had sent money on a couple birthdays and rang her after her grandmother passed away.

"I didn't know you still talked to your old man," he countered. Letty snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Look, I don't want a therapy session or any shit," she muttered. "It's just…I don't want Mia to be alone in the holidays."

"She's got us," Dom told her, feeling almost indignant the way Letty was making it sound as though she was the only one who was there for his sister.

"Yeah, I know, it's just…" she hissed through her teeth and then gave a shrug. "You know what, forget it, it's stupid." She took her hands off the steering wheel and opened the drivers door, getting out and then glancing back at him. "Thanks for the drive, Dom."

"Wait, Letty!" Dom called, getting out of the passenger side of the car and making his way around to where she was standing, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Is something going on with Mia that I don't know about?" In all honesty, there were probably a hundred things going on with his sister that he didn't know about, and he accepted that. But Letty looked nervous, so he assumed that there was something important going on that he should probably know about. She licked her lips and then rolled her eyes up to him, looking at him through her thick lashes with a weight behind her gaze that shouldn't be resting on a sixteen year old. They were silent for a long time, and Dom took that time to study her face, once or twice his eyes flicking downwards over her toned legs and the jumper that was partially see through and allowed him to see her bra. Then he blinked, trying to push those thoughts to the back of his head before taking a step closer. "Letty," he touched her arm lightly. "What's going on?"

"She's just still having a hard time, ya know," Letty shrugged. "Look, if you want more from her, you gotta talk to her." Dom pursed his lips together but chose not to say anything else. He knew he should respect the loyalty between Letty and his sisters, the same kind of loyalty that he expected from any of his boys.

"How long will you be away?"

"Just a couple of weeks, I'll be back before Christmas," she replied. Dom nodded slowly.

"When do you leave?" Letty crossed her arms over her chest.

"In a week," she murmured. Dom's eyes widened at that statement.

"Shit, so you asking me wasn't because you were considering not going, it was because you needed me to know to look out for Mia," he concluded. She gave him a quick smirk.

"See you in a month, Dom," she told him as she backed up her driveway, still watching him. Dom continued to look at her as she left. With one last quirk of her mouth she spun on her heel and walked up the steps to her house. He watched her for another few moments, right up until she opened the front door and disappeared inside. His thoughts travelled dangerously back to the curve of her lips and how good her legs and ass looked in her shorts before he turned back around and got into his car. He drove home, his mind flickering between the two girls in his life, Mia and Letty. Despite his initial frustration at Letty's implication that she was the only one there for Mia, he knew part of that was true. He and his sister had begun to draw closer together again, but he only saw her in the evenings and for a couple of hours in the weekends. The best way to deal with the loss of their parents was to keep themselves busy, and that's what they did, with the help of their friends. It was Letty that still picked Mia up every morning for school, which Dom knew was a big feat for the Latina given she used to show up late for school and she never used to stay for the whole day. She was also the one that convinced Mia to have a social life—another sacrifice on Letty's behalf, since she would rather hang out in a pair on shorts and an oversized sweater with no bra and watch TV or hang out in the garage with the boys. But Dom had actually seen Letty painting Mia's fingernails at one point before they went out with some girls to the movies, even if the girls lip was curled in disgust.

"Hey, Mia!" Dom called as he walked into the house. Jesse and Leon looked up from where they were lounged over the couches and playing playstation. Jesse jerked his head in the direction of the stairs, which lead up to the second floor where Mia's room was. Dom went up and knocked twice on the closed door and then waited. He heard movement on the other side of the door and then his sister was there, opening it and looking up at him with a quick smile.

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk?" He asked. She shrugged and stepped aside to let him in. He sat down on the chair by her desk as she climbed back on her bed where her laptop was open, crossing her slim legs under her. "So, I took Letty out driving today and she mentioned that she was going to the DR for a few weeks." Mia's eyebrows furrowed. "I think she wanted me to tell you, she thought you might be upset." It was clear Mia _was _upset but she just shrugged again. "She also said there might be something that you wanted to tell me." Mia's head snapped up and Dom saw that he was right—that Letty had been telling the truth. There was something going on with Mia that she hadn't hold him.

"I know where you go where you disappear at night," she murmured. Dom felt himself run cold. "You, uh…" Mia smirked but it definitely didn't reach her eyes. "You slept with Shanae, a girl in my year."

"What?!" Dom snapped.

"I-I mean, she did got into the club because she has a fake ID and she does look older than she is," Mia quickly rushed on at her brothers horrified expression. "And she looks eighteen when she has makeup on and her boobs are _huge—_"

"I slept with a sixteen year old!" Dom winced. Then he realized what it all meant and he looked back at his sister who was regarding him with questioning eyes. He sighed and tilted forward in his seat, resting his head in his hands. "I really didn't want you to find out about any of that…Did you tell the guys?"

"Only me and Letty know," Mia shrugged. "Why didn't you want me to know? I can take it." Dom stared at her. "I mean, you always used to sleep around. And…You used to get drunk before…" she shrugged again. "You have to look after me like you're my brother, my mum and my dad…" Dom felt his heart clenching at the steady way Mia continued to speak. "That's a lot to do. I don't care what you do, Dom, I'm always going to love you, and I'm not judging you. I just want you to be honest with me." Dom licked his lips and got off the chair, coming over to Mia and cupping his sisters face in his calloused hands.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He said with a smile as he dropped a kiss to his sisters forehead. "And honestly, I'm not going to tell you what I do when I go out." He saw her expression falter. "But I won't lie to you."

* * *

Christmas was drawing closer, only two weeks away, and Dom had thought he would be able to handle it. He and the boys went out and got a tree for Mia, that he then watched her decorate. She was off school, and when she wasn't out with her friends or hanging out with the boys at the garage, she was at home, filling it with tinsel and Christmas music. She had brought all the decorations down from the attic, just like she and Ellie had done every year, and hung them throughout the house. She had told everyone that she expected presents to under the tree by Christmas Eve or she wouldn't be feeding them. But as the day in the year came closer, Dom felt himself beginning to crumble under the pressure. It was his baby sisters first Christmas without his parents—his too, but it was his sister he was trying to think of. He wanted everything to be perfect, and he just didn't know how to do that. It was never his job to keep the Christmas spirit alive, that had always been his parents, and Mia, and he had just enjoyed the food and the break from school and the presents.

That all seemed damned shallow now.

Mia had been getting more and more excited as the days toward the end of the year drew closer, not just for Christmas, but for the return of her bestfriend. Vince had mumbled something about going home to his mum for Christmas, which had surprised everyone—including Dom. Vince hadn't seen his mum in years, he had moved in with his aunt when he was fourteen, when the cops had picked Vince up from his house after he had been left there for a week without anyone to look after him. His mum was a drunk, and she had never looked after him well, and although Dom had always known that things had been hard for Vince, he had never known just _how _bad it had been. The upside to Vince moving in with his aunt was also that she only lived two blocks down the road. But maybe it was because of what had happened to his surrogate parents, the only steady adults in his life, that had made him realize maybe he needed to give his mother another chance. Jesse and Leon would still be around, Jesse had long ago been given up on by his mother and his father was in prison, while Leon had been kicked out when his father had found out that he had been screwing his trophy wife. Dom wasn't sure whether Letty was going to be joining them for Christmas, but he assumed that she would be. He had noticed the house seemed slightly less full without the presence of the smart-mouthed Latina, and he was actually looking forward to her coming back, even if it was just so that Mia had her friend back. Work at the garage picked up because a lot were closing down over the week for Christmas, but Dom was more than glad for the distraction, deciding to keep it open every day except the 25th and 26th. There had been some groaning from the boys, but he assured them he didn't expect them to work full days, that he was more than willing to pick up the slack.

They didn't ask questions, not realizing that it was because he was more than happy to spend his days along in the garage and his nights drunk and passed out in the couch in the corner of the tiny office.

Letty was back three days before Christmas, the day before Vince was due to leave. Her mother picked her up from the airport, wanting to spend a few hours with her daughter before she was sucked back into the Toretto orbit. Mia had cooked up the biggest feast they had since their parents had disappeared, although she promised that she had more planned for Christmas. Seeing his sister move around in the kitchen, her eyes glowing and her hair tangling around her face with a smear of flour on her cheek was enough to make Dom's heart swell with pride and squeeze with pain. She and their mother had always loved cooking together. He clenched his hand into a fist and backed into the hallway. He hadn't gone out since Mia had told him about her little discovery, and quite honestly, he didn't want to make that mistake again. A _sixteen year old_? That was his sisters age, Letty's age. And despite the fact he had nothing against the tight bodies of girls just turning into woman, it was a little on the young side for him. He was also upset that Mia had found out—her intense brown eyes and bored into his soul when she had told him that she understood, that she loved him, that she didn't judge him. But it wasn't good enough, he didn't want her to have to know those things, she deserved better than that. So apart from the occasional party where he would go upstairs with a nameless girl he knew was definitely over eighteen, he would get drunk in private at the garage, surrounded by his own misery. He was pretty sure that the boys knew that was what he did when he stayed there, and maybe Mia did as well, but she didn't say anything, and so he didn't either.

"Hey, man! I can smell you thinking!" The voice was teasing but strong and Dom's head snapped up when he realized who was leaning against the doorframe leading into the hallway.

"Letty," he felt a grin break across his face despite the whirlwind of thoughts inside his head. He knew must have really been thinking hard given Mia was laughing and squealing in the next room, appearing at the Latina's side and enveloping her in a hug. Letty hugged Mia back before the smaller girl spun on her heel and headed back into the kitchen. Dom and Letty were left in the hallway, and she pushed her hair away from her face and behind her ear as she smirked at him. "How was the DR?" He asked her.

"It was awesome," she grinned. "And look what Richard got me." She pulled something out of her pocket and held it up. "I think he's trying to make up for all the years of not being around." Dom's eyes widened.

"Oh, nice! Your first car!" He grinned and came over to her. "What is it?"

"Nissan 240sx—painted this awesome pink-purple colour than I will crack your nose over if you laugh at me," she warned with a glint in her eye that Dom didn't doubt. He just shook his head.

"Can't wait to see you behind the wheel," he murmured as he slung an arm around her shoulders. Letty seemed slightly confused by the gesture, but Dom realized that he had actually missed the girl, and not just because his sister seemed lost without her. He ducked a quick kiss to her head as they walked into the kitchen, where Jesse and Leon were teaming up on Mia.

"Dom!" Mia exclaimed, looking relieved. "They keep trying to get food! They're not allowed any until it's all ready!" She was standing in front of the bench and stove where the dinner was either sitting ready or just finishing cooking, arms out defensively and one boy on either side. Dom dropped his arm from Letty's shoulder and made a pouting face.

"Aw, guys," he looked at both of them in turn and they gave him slightly guilty looks. He crossed the room and put an arm around his sister. "You need to pay a bit more attention…" he turned to his sister and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before his hand reached around her and snagged a baked potato that she had meticulously prepared, stuffed with cheese, bacon and red onion. "To the master!"He shouted over his shoulder as Mia's eyes flew open.

"Dominic Toretto!" She screamed out, taking off after her brother at high speed. The boys eyes were wide open as they watched the siblings sprint out of the room and then they were falling against each other in peals of laughter. Letty was surprised at Dom's actions, he had been so uptight and mature over these past few months, this was the most childish thing she had seen him do. There was a thud in the next room; Dom had tripped over a rug that Mia had laid out in the lounge and gone sprawling over the ground—but not before he had managed to shove the potato in his mouth. His sister was glowering down at him, but he saw the twinkle in her eye and the smirk pulling at the corner of her lips.

"That potato is going to come out of your dinner ration!" She snapped, staring down at her brother. He shrugged and gave her a boyish grin.

* * *

Christmas went better than expected, although the sadness hung throughout the house of the missing Toretto parents. Mia did her best, she had them all out of bed early, eating a huge breakfast and moving straight on to lunch. The food was amazing—Dom couldn't help but be even more impressed by his baby sister than usual. She kept the corny holiday tunes playing and forced them all to wear either Santa hats or reindeer ears. Jesse looked rather comical, with the reindeer ears pulled over his beanie and chuffing on a cigarette. But not as funny as Dom did, the Santa hat perched on his shaved scalp. Letty snapped a photo of the older boy and sent it to Vince, who was still at his mothers. The house also seemed empty without him, but things had been going well for him, and so they hadn't asked the boy to come home. Presents weren't anything too special, given they were all on a tight budget. There had been a cook book, nail polish and a clothing voucher for Mia, a fancy six-pack of cigars for Jesse that tasted like vanilla and mint and a box of beers, similar for Leon. Letty got a clothing voucher from Mia, which earned the smaller girl a glare, and an iPod, which was a combined present from the boy. No one had really known what to get Dom, so they had teamed together for a red leather jacket and Letty had also brought back some exotic beer from the DR which had emptied out her bank account.

It wasn't until nearly twelve o'clock that Dom managed to get out of the house without anyone noticing. Mia had been up since four that morning so she was crashed out on the couch, nestled up against Leon. The two boys were staring blankly at the TV, practically lulled into a food coma. Letty was the only one who still looked slightly alert, but even then, she had had a couple of beers and her eyes were falling shut as she stared at the screen. The four pack of beer Letty had brought back for him tasted amazing and they were a higher alcohol content than what he usually drank, so he took them with him. He turned on the lamp in the corner of the garage and sat down on the armchair in the corner of the garage that he always related to his father. He remembered the hours he would spend out here with Ricky, right back to when he could barely see over the door of the 1970 Dodge Charger R/T. It had always been his fathers pride and joy, and his eyes had glowed when he had worked on it.

Dom let out a growl at the back of his throat as he stared at the car, crushing the can in his hand and tossing it to the side. He knew it was just the day, the time of the year, the alcohol coursing through his veins…It was a terrible mixture but he needed it, he needed to let his anger out. He finished another beer in record time, bringing his total for the day into the double digits. That can was crumbled in his fist and joined the first, and he felt his shoulders tensing as he stared at the black sheen of the car.

"Fuck," he grunted. His hands closed into fists. "Fuck!" His voice rose and before he knew what he was doing, he was on his feet, his muscular arms swinging, sending tools and rubbish flying from the counter. "Fuck!" His voice was almost a scream now and he would have kept going if he hadn't heard a small noise behind him. He froze, his mind flickering to his sister before he saw the second girl of the house standing there. Letty met his gaze steadily, not intimidated by the flashing anger. He was breathing heavily, tears blurring his vision as they continued to stare at each other. His shoulders were heaving as he stared at the petite Latina, and he spun around, ashamed that she had seen him like this, angry that he couldn't control himself.

"You don't have to hide from me," Letty's voice was soft, softer than Dom had ever heard it. He didn't move, and when he felt a small hand on his back, he flinched. "Dom," her voice was sharp, a lot more like the Letty he knew. "Dom, look at me." He turned to face her, his intentions were to tell her to fuck off and leave him alone, but then her arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him against her tiny body. Dom was motionless for a good few minutes, letting her hold him, her grip tight, her slim arms surprisingly muscular. But then he responded, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and burying his face in her soft hair that had fallen from the ponytail she had had it in at the beginning of the day.

And then he felt the tears come.

It was the first time he had let himself go around someone, and it felt good. The small girl held him tight, her hold not faltering as his body shook in her arms. His tears soaked through her thin shirt and she continued to stand there, her legs almost buckling under his weight, her arms going numb as she held him so tight that her knuckles were white and her fingers bit into the skin of his shoulders. Finally, it subsided and he pulled back, only far enough so that they were a hair breadth apart and their noses rubbed as he rested his forehead against hers. She raised a hand to touch his damp cheek, her fingers warm on his skin.

"I'm not your sister, Dom," she murmured, and her breath played on his lips. "I'm part of your family, your team—I'm here for both of you. You don't have to be strong around me."

He blamed it on the beer, on the day that was meant to be the best one of the year but only reminded him of what he had lost, on the confusing position he was now in…Whatever it was, it was something that brought about an onslaught of emotions.

Dom pressed his lips against Letty's and after a moment of hesitation, she returned the pressure.

It was over in seconds, the warm touch suddenly gone from both of their lips as they pulled apart and stared at each other. Her eyes were wide and he knew that her own expression of surprise was mirrored on his face.

* * *

They didn't mention the whisper of a kiss, and when the end of the year drew around and there was a party at the Toretto house, Dom avoided Letty the whole night. He knew he was being stupid, he knew that nothing should have changed, but when he saw her sitting on the lap of guy he didn't know, he felt more than mild annoyance. Swallowing back two shots of tequila, he grasped the arm of a red head, choosing to bring in the new year with the girl between his legs, mouth wrapped around him, than downstairs with his friends, taking a risk at seeing Letty kiss that guy when the clock struck twelve.

_Sooooo, let me know what you pretty people think! Your reviews make my world go round ;)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay guys! So I loved all your reviews, you guys are amazing! I did say in the first chapter that this won't be updated as regularly as my other stories, mainly because of the length of the chapters, however also because I have several stories going at the moment! In case you guys haven't already gathered, each chapter is going to be one year in their lives. So, read the chapter, let me know what you think!_

Everyone fell into a routine as the new year began. Leon, Vince and Jesse all moved in permanently to the Toretto home, and Letty all but joined them, only going home when her mother insisted. The two girls returned to school, Mia making sure her friend actually went for the whole day instead of leaving halfway through or not going at all. From what Mia was saying, though, Letty was excelling in her classes. Vince brought it up once, and she delivered a quick punch to his arm. Dom and Letty didn't bring up their kiss, and slowly became comfortable around each other again. The team worked together and while the pain that came from loosing Ricky and Ellie would never disappear, it began to fade. Mia would laugh and smile easily, and Dom didn't disappear as often. Soon, parties began to take place at the Toretto house, and the drinking wasn't something he had to hide from Mia, or his team, because he wasn't doing it to the point where he would black out anymore. He wasn't relying on it the way he once did. There were girls—there were always girls—but there always had been. Despite the fact Dom had thought he hadn't been anywhere near ready to take over the family business, he had learnt more from his father than he thought. He ran the garage with precision and a tight grip on the finances. Letty worked often in the garage after school, up to her elbows in car grease and sharing in the dirty jokes the boys told, although never making a reference to her own sex life. It wasn't until one day she came in with a hickey on her neck that the boys seemed to realize she _had _a sex life, and Dom remembered he had never mentioned his little meeting with the girl the day after his eighteenth birthday.

"Ooh, Let!" Vince chortled. "You got a man?"

"Fuck off, Vince," Letty muttered, pulling her hair roughly out of it's ponytail so that it fell around her neck.

"Oh, come on, Let," Leon reached out and tugged on her hair. "You gotta tell us who your man is! We gotta make sure he deserves you!"

"Well, he made me cum twice in the half an hour we had for lunch, so that's good enough for me!" She snapped before turning around and walking toward the car she had been working on the day before. The boys all exchanged shocked looks before Jesse let out a shout of laughter.

"You screwed him at school?!" He managed between laughs. "Shit, I don't even think _Dom _ever did that!"

"It was in his car," she muttered, bent over the car, hair around her face. Her cheeks were burning from the cross examination and she was glad Mia wasn't there. She hadn't even realized she had the love bite—she'd probably been walking around all day with it, it was a miracle that someone else hadn't pointed it out. Mia clearly hadn't seen it or else she would have been interrogated profusely. But Mia had been distracted by a boy a year ahead of them who had just transferred in to their school from a couple states over—Brian O'Conner. Given Mia was in advanced classes, she was taking Math and Biology with the blonde, and from the way she had spoken about him to Letty, she was clearly smitten.

"In his _car_?" Vince let out a hoot. "Well, no one has ever accused you of being classy, Let!"

"That's bloody rich coming from a guy who screwed a girl in her closet while her boyfriend was asleep in her bed!" Letty growled. Dom tuned them out as he went back to work. He wasn't sure how he felt about Letty having sex. On one hand, she was just a friend, another member of his team, and he clearly didn't care when Leon, Vince or Jesse had sex and boasted about it. But on the other hand, she was the same age as his little sister, and he really did not want to think about Mia having sex. He was pretty sure she was still a virgin, but he was too scared to ask the question. He was also pretty sure she would slap him if he ever did. He had seen Mia kissing one boy before, and it had taken every inch of self control he had not to rip the inexperienced teen away from his baby sister. She had thankfully not been interested and had moved on quickly, but he knew that wouldn't always be the case. He actually suspected there was someone who had caught his sisters eye at the moment. She thought he didn't notice that she was spending more time in front of the mirror before she went to school, and that she was wearing lipstick and that gunk around her eyes. He noticed, he just knew better than to say anything. It wasn't until a month later, when she asked Dom if she could stay out late on a Sunday night, that he began to worry. He asked Letty, who was close-mouthed about it, so he stayed up that night, sitting at the kitchen table with a beer in one hand and the other tapping away erratically on the table top. He heard the roar of an engine outside and he looked out the window, his eyes narrowing as he realized the car was parked in there driveway. A green Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. His sister got out of the car, talking and smiling to whoever it was who was driving the car, then she made her way into the house. When she saw her brother at the kitchen table, she froze, playing with the hem of the jersey she was wearing.

"Who's the guy?" Dom asked, not to sure how he was supposed to approach the subject.

"Uh, Brian," Mia murmured. He nodded and there was silence for several moments.

"He into cars?" He assumed.

"Yeah, he modified his own," Mia gave a tentative smile. Dom pursed his lips.

"How old is he?" The smile dropped from Mia's face. She knew this could possibly be the breaking point.

"Older than me, younger than you," she advised.

"Okay," Dom said, standing up, leaving his bottle of beer on the table. Mia frowned.

"Okay?" She asked.

"Okay," Dom repeated. He looked over at his sister with a half smile. "He's younger than me and he's in to cars. He got you home before curfew and he didn't try to grope you in his front seat—"

"You were watching us?!"

"—Which makes him an okay guy in my books," Dom finished, not bothering to answer Mia's question. "Make sure he stops by the garage at some point."

He regretted not asking any further questions the second he walked out of the room, but he knew Mia. Despite the fact that he was the one with a legendary temper, Mia was known to get pretty scary when she felt like she was being judged, annoyed or threatened. Most of the time he found it funny when his petite little sister flew off the handle—usually at the boys if they left a mess around the house after she had cleaned it, once at a girl who came into the garage and acted as though she owned the place because she had slept with Dom. It had been more than a little entertaining to watch Mia snap at the girl that if every girl who slept with her brother felt she had the right to walk in to their garage, they might as well open a boarding house. Mia was a smart girl, and he had to trust that she was going to make a right choice with whatever guy she got involved with. It was what his parents would have done.

Brian O'Conner was a good guy. Dom was hesitant at first, allowing the kid into their garage, but he proved him wrong. Mia was happy when she was around him, and even though Dom prepared himself for the inevitable—the older boy moving on from his almost seventeen year old sister—it didn't happen. Months went by and he was still coming around, still treating Mia like a princess, still teasing Jesse and Letty like a younger brother and sister. Leon came around quickly, Dom following, leaving only Vince acting standoffish. Letty once joked that it was because he had always had eyes for Mia, and Dom's head had snapped up, looking over at his friend who wisely said nothing and continued working. This year when his birthday came around, it was not celebrated with a party like it was last year. This time it was just a dinner, on the opposite side of the city from the restaurant that they went to for his eighteenth. Everyone tried to keep the spirits high, but even Brian who had not known Ricky and Ellie and the sorrow that had fallen upon the group at their loss, could not ignore the tension in the air. They all went home early, going to their rooms to allow Dom the first floor of the house in peace. It had been nearly four months since he had consumed alcohol with the intention of getting drunk to forget. But as he sat at the kitchen table, a bottle of bourbon by his elbow and a tumbler in his hand, it was easy to fall back in to the routine that had been his crutch for the months after his parents had been killed. He drank half the bottle of bourbon, but unlike before, he did not feel anger as he thought of the accident that had taken his parents, only pain and sorrow. He felt tears well in his eyes as he poured himself another drink. He heard a noise behind him, and part of him hoped it was Letty, coming to comfort him like she had that time before. He turned around when a hand fell on his shoulder.

It was Vince.

"Brother," the mans voice was gravelly. "They would not have wanted you to spend your birthday like this." Dom looked up at Vince, who gave him a half smile, his other hand coming out of his pocket and holding it out to him. "Take the car out tomorrow. Your father always intended for you to drive his beast." Dom took in a sharp breath as he realized what Vince was handing him.

The keys to the 1970 Dodge Charger.

* * *

Dom didn't know how long he drove the next day. He filled the Dodge Charger and then he drove. He drove for hours, pushing the car to it's limits on the highways on the outskirts of the city. It was as amazing as his father had always said it would be. The car purred as he lowered his foot on the accelerator and the shift stick vibrated under his hand as he switched between gears. He had left at ten in the morning, after he had slept long enough for the alcohol to have dulled in his system, and he didn't start heading home until the sun was starting to dip on the horizon. When he got home, the boys were in front of the barbeque, Leon and Vince manning the grill while Brian and Jesse were laughing and pushing each other around while holding beers. Letty and Mia were inside, looking out over the backyard from the kitchen where they were talking and organizing salads and bread to go with dinner. As he pulled the Charger up the drive and parked it in the garage, no one gave him looks or surprise at the fact he had finally drive his fathers car or asking him to explain himself. Jesse held out a beer and Vince grabbed him in a headlock, joking that just because he was the owner of the house didn't mean he could leave the cooking to them and then just show up when the food was ready. Mia and Letty came out of the house minutes later, and Mia grinned up at her brother as he came over to her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Now, because you were the one who didn't contribute _at all _to the meal," Letty smirked as they sat down around the table. "You have grace, Dom." Dom grinned at her, no argument on his lips as everyone around the table held hands and bowed their heads.

* * *

Races in the weekend became regular things as well. It didn't take long for Dom to create a name for himself—Leon and Vince joining him in the races most times. Jesse would spend the times during the races muttering to himself about how to increase the speed and agility of the cars the boys were racing, and Mia and Letty would be on the sidelines cheering the boys on. Brian often spoke about joining them, but the pained look on Mia's face always made him hesitate. Dom knew that the blonde boy would eventually get behind the wheel and the race line, but for now his relationship was too new with his sister, and he was still eager to please her at every turn. The boy was a good driver. And Letty, the hungry way she would watch them racing made him wonder if she was every going to try out. He didn't know how he would feel if she ever participated. He knew she was a good driver, and she was amazing when she was under the hood, but he wasn't particularly sure how she would drive when she was under pressure, if she could actually handle a car going almost a hundred kilometers over the limit.

That was, until there were two police officers knocking on the door.

"Can I help you?" Vince's voice was gruff as he opened the door. Dom looked up at his friends abrasive tone.

"Are you the owner of this house?" Came an unknown voice. Dom got up, making his way over to the front door, a frown creasing his face when he saw who was standing there. The first one looked up at him. "Are _you_ the owner of this house?"

"I am," Dom replied warily.

"Are you the owner of that car?" The officer stepped aside and pointed to where Letty's car was parked on the front lawn. Dom's eyes narrowed, but he stopped himself from looking over his shoulder to where she was sitting with his sister in the lounge.

"A minor owns that car. Why's that?" Dom answered evenly.

"A car similar to that was involved in a police chase earlier this morning in town," the officer replied. Dom's jaw tightened, but that was his only response.

"Well it wasn't that car," Dom said sternly. "The owner of that car has an exam coming up, and they were up studying late last night, and sleeping most of the morning. They haven't left the house." He stepped closer to the two officers, his eyes hard. "You've got the wrong car." The officers didn't look intimidated, but they looked as though they believed him. The first one finally broke eye contact and looked over his shoulder at his partner, giving a short nod.

"Okay," he said, looking back at Dom. "We're sorry for the inconvenience. Have a good day, sir." Dom watched them until they reached their car, before slamming the door shut and turning to where Letty was looking up at himself and Vince with a sheepish expression. Dom looked down at her, an eyebrow raised.

"A cop chase? Really, Let?" He snapped at her. Letty opened her mouth to say something but Dom reached out and grabbed her elbow, dragging her off the couch and out of the room. She growled under her breath but allowed him to shove her into his car and wait for him to get into the drivers side. She didn't say anything as he backed out of the driveway and throw the car into gear, the smell of burning rubber left behind as they tore off down the street. It was almost half an hour later that Dom pulled over to the side of secluded part of the highway and turned to face the younger girl. "What the hell were you thinking?" He had been angry for the first ten minutes of the drive, his knuckles clenched so tightly around the wheel that they were white. Then he had realized that Letty had only been doing what she had been surrounded by, what she had been shown. And she was doing it the Letty way, by her own rules and not asking for permission from anyone. So he had driven until he was calmer, and able to talk to her without yelling at putting her on the defensive. "Do you have any idea what would have happened if you had been caught? And what if you'd crashed—you're only sixteen—"

"Seventeen," Letty interjected.

"Whatever, you're so young—" he broke off and turned to look at her properly. "Wait, you're seventeen?"

"Yup," Letty rolled her eyes.

"When did you turn seventeen?"

"My birthday is one week before yours, Dom," Letty replied. Dom paused, taken aback. "Look, my age isn't the problem here. What the problem is; you didn't know that I had been racing and you don't like it."

"No, I don't like the fact you're racing—"

"_No_," Letty laughed. "You don't like the fact you didn't know. You like to know everything that's going on."

"I like to know that everyone I care about is safe," he snapped. "I lost my parents last year because of a car accident."

"Because of a drunk driver, not because of their driving," Letty replied.

"But if you're driving _recklessly _it's the same thing—"

"How the fuck do you know I was driving recklessly?" Letty snapped, finally looking pissed off. "God, I've made over three grand in the past couple of weeks with my driving—and I haven't been caught by the cops! Give me a little credit!"

"There are safer ways to make money than street races—especially in the middle of the day where you're going to have heaps of witnesses!"

"That's just _a little _hypocritical, don't ya think?" Letty muttered. "And three grand in less than a month is pretty damn good for someone my age—apart from whoring myself out, I'm pretty sure this is the only way I have to make that kind of money!" She crossed her arms over her chest and stared ahead, the picture of teenage stubbornness. Dom let out a hiss through his teeth and rested his head back against the headrest. After a few minutes of silence he turned to her.

"Fine," he said.

"Fine…What?" Letty grunted.

"Show me how you race," he told her. "Not drive. Race."

* * *

It was two weeks later when Letty brought her car to the races and approached Hector with a roll of notes in her hands. Leon and Vince looked confused, watching as Dom backed her up, telling Hector to let her race. Mia was chewing on her lip nervously where she stood next to Brian in the crowd although didn't look as confused as the boys. Hector looked down at Letty, saying something that no-one else could hear. Dom put a hand on Hector's shoulder, looking at the shorter man intently. Whatever he was saying, Letty was smirking and finally Hector nodded hesitantly, accepting the cash from Letty before turning and walking away. Dom then turned to Letty, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her in close to him. As they spoke, they were completely unaware of the looks they were getting from the racer bunnies surrounding them. When Dom leaned down and pressed a kiss to Letty's cheek, Vince looked over his shoulder at Mia with raised eyebrows. She shrugged, eyes instantly returning to her brother and bestfriend.

Dom had never felt so proud when he saw Letty soar over the finish line inches in front of the car that came in second. He pushed his way past the crowds of onlookers and grasped the Latina, lifting her in the air and holding her above his head. She let out a squeal and her grin was big enough to break her face in half. He brought her back down to the ground, an arm slung around her shoulder as Mia and Brian broke through the crowd.

"Oh my god, Letty!" Mia laughed. "That was incredible! Stupid—" she shot a glare in her brothers direction, clearly one that said she disapproved of him letting her race. "But incredible." The boys broke through the crowd as well and almost swamped the small girl. Dom didn't question her driving from that day forward. Mia's disapproval of the racing was still obvious, there was a tightness in her jaw that made in clear she worried about her brother and her friends whenever they got behind the wheel of a car and pulled up to the starting lane. But she was a Toretto, and gasoline was in her blood, just like the rest of them. It wasn't unusual for police to break up the races, sometimes they got wind of them early on in the night, sometimes everything was just beginning to wind down, but one night they arrived just after a race had started. Dom and Vince were in a race at the time, they had already disappeared when the police cars began swarming in. Letty and Mia had driven together, and in the rush to get back to Letty's car, she had been pushed over and fallen hard to the ground, hands going out to break her fall. There was no choice but for Mia to drive, and as she swerved and accelerated down side streets and through the traffic, there was no doubting the look of exhilaration on her face. After taking Letty to the emergency room to get her wrist looked at, Letty had announced to everyone that Mia was a complete hypocrite, and was practically as good as the rest of them when it came to racing.

The next Friday, Brian was behind the wheel of his car at the starting line.

* * *

The year was passing fast and Dom felt like it had barely been the beginning of the year when October came around. Mia began studying to the point where she was mumbling physics equations in her sleep. That wasn't surprising. What was surprising was when Letty began to stay in Friday nights, her excuse being to study. At first, the boys had all joked and laughed, not believing her. But when she didn't show up at the house, or reply to their texts, they realized she was serious. She still came by the garage most days after school, but left after a few hours and rarely came back to the house for dinner. Almost a month later, exams began, and Letty stopped coming around altogether. Several times, Mia came home late because she had been with Letty, but she didn't come over. Dom missed the girl, missed seeing her up to her elbows in grease or stealing their beers, and he definitely missed seeing her behind the wheel of her car, eyes slanted and glowing. But if, for the first time in her life, Letty decided to put some seriousness into her schoolwork, he wasn't going to kick up a fuss about it.

"Dom!...Dominic!" Vince was shouting from the front of the shop. Dom looked up from where he was filling out paperwork for a newly finished car, to where Vince was standing. He was raising his eyebrows with a lewd look in his eyes and nodding at a girl who was standing in front of him, facing Dom. She was gorgeous, leggy, hair pulled back from her face. "She needs her alternator replaced, and I gotta pop out for lunch." The girl shot a grin over her shoulder at Vince—clearly knowing an excuse when she heard one, but not caring as her eyes raked over Dom.

She was the first girl he had been with in nearly four months. Since the first time Dom had had sex, that was the longest time he had gone without it. After he had finished and she was pulling her dress back over her head, the tiny office at the back of the garage smelling like sex, he couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to get by without it. He realized as she pulled her thong over her well-toned ass and dropped a kiss to his mouth, that there had been just too many other things on his mind. This time last year, he had been drinking and sleeping around, feeling sorry for himself and not stepping up to the responsibility that had been left on his young shoulders. This year, he had gotten it together. He was running a garage, he was paying the mortgage on his family home, he was looking after his baby sister, and he was holding his team together. He had never imagined that this was where he was going to be in his nineteenth year, but somehow, as he watched the girl leave with her fixed car, he realized he couldn't imagine it any other way. Although, as he did up his belt and rehashed the tightness of the girl wrapped around him, he had to admit to himself that he had most definitely missed sex. But it could never just be sex again, he knew that. Not while Mia was living in the same house and looking up to him as an example. He had to be someone that she could respect, and be proud of.

Someone that his parents could be proud of.

* * *

"Shit, why we gotta dress up, Mi?" Vince had been groaning for the past half hour. When Mia had told the boys a week ago that they had to come to the end of year school valedictory and they had all agreed—as though she had actually given them a choice—they hadn't realized that there was actually a dress code. And the dress code apparently meant the boys wearing freshly ironed button down shirts and brushing their hair for a change. She had allowed them to get away with jeans instead of dress pants, but she eyed them all critically before she let them out of the house. For the first time since the funeral, Dom had dug around in his fathers things, and he had found a dark purple tie. Mia had tied it for him, and then given him a watery smile.

"Thanks, Dom," she murmured. "I know you hate dressing up." Dom waited for her to finish adjusting the tie before putting both hands on his sisters shoulders and tilting his head downward slightly, to look at her directly.

"Mum and dad would have been dressed to the nines at every one of these things," he told her. "And they would have forced the rest of us to be as well." Mia's eyes clouded with tears. "And so we damn well will be." A single tear dripped down Mia's cheek as he pulled her in for a tight hug. She then started muttering about how he was messing up her makeup and disappeared into the bathroom. Jesse was shifting awkwardly from side to side, wearing one of Leon's shirts, who was the closest to his size but not exact, and the sleeves hung around his hands. He rolled them up to his elbows and then puffed away on a cigarette, obviously trying to ignore the situation that they were all in. Leon and Vince were grumbling and muttering away, fiddling with the hems of their shirts, undoing the top button and then doing them back up when Dom would shoot glares in their direction. Mia finally came down to join them and they all grinned and hugged her. She was wearing a long black dress that hugged her slim figure, and her hair was pinned up. It was a simple get up, but an effective one. They had agreed to take one car, which was a first, with Dom driving, Mia in the passenger seat and the boys all piled in the back. The drive to the school was a short one, and the boys in the backseat let out appreciative whistles as they parked.

"Gotta love being back at school," Vince smirked and reached over to give Leon a high five. Several of the more presumptuous girls had taken this opportunity to wear dresses that skimmed their lower asses and dipped low in their cleavage. Mia rolled her eyes at her boys as she got out of the car. Dom appeared at her side, shooting her that charming half smile that made girls flutter their eyelashes and weak at the knees, and offered his arm. Not to be upstaged, Vince appeared at her other side, tucking her other arm in his. "Your man all dressed up for this thing too?" He asked. Mia nodded and then grinned as she caught sight of Brian, who was leaning against the doorframe of the room leading into the hall.

"You look kinda creep there, O'Conner," Dom noted. "Aren't you a little old to be hanging around this school?"

"Unlike you guys, I only left here a couple months ago," Brian shot back with a grin. "And that was by choice, not because I got too old." Mia left Dom and Vince to link hands with Brian and the six made their way inside. Dom looked around the hall which had been decorated for tonight. Tables were laid out with dinner and students were mingling with parents and teachers.

"Dominic Toretto in a tie? What the fuck has the world come to?" Dom grinned as he heard a familiar voice behind her.

"A filthy mouth like that could only belong to one per—" his voice broke off as he turned and his sight fell on Letty. The coarse words that had come out of her mouth did not suit the woman standing in front of him. He blinked and frowned slightly as he took her in. She was wearing a light purple dress, a simple halter-neck cut that was tight around her breasts and then fell elegantly from below them to just above her knees. Her hair was loose and fell around her shoulders in waves. He bit down on his lower lip before smiling, albeit a little uncomfortably. "You look gorgeous, Let." The slight blush that rose on her cheeks only emphasized her beauty. He grinned wider now, glad that she felt as awkward as he did. The moment was broken as the boys caught sight of her and came over, laughing and talking loudly, undoubtedly the most boisterous ones at the get together.

"Shit, Let, you're a _girl_!"

"I didn't even know you _owned _something like that!"

"You look _hot, _Let!"

"You guys are all class, you know that?" Letty rolled her eyes at them. "You know just what to say to make a girl feel special." Leon grinned and kissed her on the cheek.

"You look good, Let," he told her earnestly. She rolled her eyes again. An older man in a suit, probably the principal, announced into a microphone that the evening was beginning and asked people to take their seats. Letty disappeared to sit next to her mother, while the rest all managed to find seats together. The evening was rather dull, the best part about it being the food, which the boys had second and third helpings of. Then it was time for awards to be announced, and Mia grinned and turned a pretty shade of pink when it was announced that she had topped their year in Biology, Physics and Calculus. It wasn't surprising with the amount of effort that went into her studies, but the boys all stood and cheered for her as she made her way up—their reactions completely different from the reserved clapping that happened for every other aware given. She narrowed her eyes at them as she received her certificates and trophies, but the grin on her face showed she wasn't really annoyed. What was surprising, was when the principal read out the next award.

"We seem to have another high achiever amongst us," he began and Mia nudged Dom with a grin on her face. He raised his eyebrows at her as he went back to his pavlova, uninterested in the old man. "Another student who has topped more than one subject. With top marks in both Accounting and Business Management; Leticia Ortiz." Dom's head snapped up as he looked around the hall to find the Latina. Mia jumped up, squealing her friends name, and the boys joined her, Leon putting both fingers in his mouth and letting out a piercing whistle. Dom couldn't help but stare at the girl in wonder as she made her way back down from the stage and toward the table that she and her mother were sitting at. As she made her way past the table her friends were sitting at, she met Dom's eyes, and winked.

* * *

Things fell back into a normal routine when school finished. Letty was around at their house nearly every day, eating their food and stealing the remote. She came back to the races on Fridays, and falling asleep next to Mia most nights after days at the garage. One hot day near the end of November, Dom made the decision to close the garage early so that they could all head to the beach. They piled into cars and made their way down the highway, windows wound all the way down and music thudding from the speakers. Mia and Letty were the first ones stripping out of their dresses to their bikini's underneath, running toward the water, sand flicking up in their wake. Brian and Jesse were the next ones running after them, Vince close behind. Dom and Leon followed more slowly, taking off their shirts and dumping them down on the pile of clothing left behind by their friends. Two girls walked past them, tiny bikini's clinging to their well endowed bodies, and they both shot appreciative glances at the two men. Leon grinned back and Dom let his eyes travel over them, lingering on their asses as they walked away before looking back out at the ocean to where Brian and Mia were tangled around each other, acting all lovey dovey, and Vince was splashing Letty.

"Must admit," Leon murmured, shooting a look at Dom out of the corner of his eye as they made their way toward the water. "Letty has been doing some growing up lately." Dom shot Leon a quick look, but his face was carefully impassive. "Did you even know she was good with numbers?" Dom shrugged.

"I knew she was smart, she just hates school," he squinted, the sun shining down on them, reflecting off the water. "_Hated _school," he corrected himself.

"We're going to be beating boys away from her with a wrench soon," Leon smirked. "I always thought it was going to be Mia that gave us the problems in that department." Dom nodded.

"I like O'Conner," he muttered. "He's a good kid."

"So, back to Letty," Leon crossed his arms and turned to face Dom. "Is something going to happen there, or not?" Dom widened his eyes at his friends words. When he realized that he wasn't getting anything past the other boy, he gave a one shouldered shrug and continued to walk toward the ocean, the water licking at his toes.

"She's like family, Leon," Dom stated. "I'm not going to do anything to risk screwing that up. Besides," he added. "She's the same age as my sister." He turned and began running toward his friends, jumping over the low breaking waves until the water was almost at his chest, and he dove underneath it. Leon shrugged, following after him. They splashed and dunked each other, Dom pulling Brian under the water—using the pretence of playfulness, but mainly with the intention of stopping him from groping his sister. They stayed in the water for hours, finally going back to shore when the sun had sunk into the horizon and a chill had begun to settle in the air. Even then, they only moved out of the water slowly, and then all laughed when they realized they had three towels to share between the seven of them. Jesse had been in the shallow water for a while now, given he had been chain smoking, and was pretty much dry except for his shorts. Mia and Brian snagged a towel to share, while Vince and Leon began fighting over the second. Dom picked up the third and wrapped it around himself. He grinned over at Letty, opening it wide. She rolled her eyes as she walked over to him, looking completely desirable in her plain black bikini that clung to her curves, her wet hair sticking to her neck and shoulders.

"If you try to cop a feel, I will punch you," she stated as she let him wrap his arms around her, pulling the towel around them both. They stood there for a good few minutes, both beginning to warm as the towel absorbed the water and they shared their body heat. Dom could feel her body beginning to relax, and then one arm tentatively rested on his hip, sliding around and resting around his waist. He tried to ignore the way his body was beginning to react to her nearly naked body pressed against his. Then she shifted, and he felt something else that he noticed he wasn't going to be able to ignore. Because of the cold, her nipples were hard, and they were pressing against his chest.

"Here, uh," he pulled away from her suddenly and tugged the towel away from his shoulders. "You take it. I'm pretty much dry now anyway." Letty shrugged and wrapped the towel around herself, making her way up to the car, following Mia and Brian.

* * *

Dom wasn't convinced that Christmas was ever going to be painless ever again, but from everything he understood, it was going to get easier. And it _did _feel easier than it had last year. Mia cooked, again, and Vince stayed this time. Letty spent the day with her mother, and then came over for dinner. They had decided to wait until after dinner to exchange gifts, since that was when both Letty and Brian would be there, after spending the day with their families. All gifts were simple but thoughtful, and after everyone had hugged and kissed, the serious drinking began. Halfway through the night, somewhere between the tequila shots and the sickly eggnog, Mia got control of the radio, and switched the channel from steady dance music, to a squeaking girly song.

"Fuck, Mi, you trying to strip us of our manhood?!" Vince grumbled, struggling with the brunette and trying to reach the radio.

"No! No!" Letty squealed, jumping up on to the couch and wobbling precariously before managing to balance herself and the beer she was holding in her hand. "I k-know every s-single word to t-this song!" She was stuttering and slurring, but the determination in her tone was clear. Dom laughed and held up a hand to stop Vince from changing the song. After another moment he recognized the song and couldn't help but laugh harder.

"You know every word to _this _song, Letty? You're actually _admitting _to that?"

"Don't even try and tell me you don't!" Letty shouted, and began bouncing on the couch. The chorus came around and Mia jumped up on to the couch next to Letty, linking hands with her bestfriend. "If ya wanna be my lover, ya gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever—"

"_Friendship never ends_!" Mia's voice was just as off key as Letty's, the two girls almost falling on top of each other as they laughed. "If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give. Taking is to easy—"

"But that's the way _it is_!" The girls collapsed in a pile of giggles and Brian raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Dom raised his beer in the air.

"Those are our girls," he affirmed, grinning and drinking deeply from his bottle.

* * *

The hangovers that the occupants of the household—especially the girls—woke with the next morning seemed to alter the typical plans over the next few days. They knew that they were going to spend New Years together, and it had just been assumed that they would drink. However when it rolled around, they all ended up snuggled together in the lounge with not much desire to consume alcohol to the point of getting drunk. They watched DVD after DVD, and then switched back to the TV when New Years neared, to watch the ball drop over Times Square. As the clock clicked over to midnight, and cheers erupted from the TV, everyone clinked their beers against each others and slapped each other on the back. Mia and Brain dissolved in a pile of kisses and Jesse crinkled up his nose at them, regretting his spot next to them on the couch. Dom rolled his eyes at them, before his gaze fell on the girl beside him. She was still watching the TV, however her neck looked a little stiffer than it had a minute ago.

Dom never claimed to understand females, and he never would, but he knew right then that Letty was jealous—at least a little bit—of Mia having a New Years kiss, and her, not.

If he kissed her now, in front of everyone, she was likely to punch him.

If he didn't kiss her, he would have missed his chance, and he didn't know when another one would come around, and for some reason, that didn't sit well with him at all.

Jesse disappeared outside for a smoke, and Vince decided to join him. Leon got up for a bathroom break and Dom stood, stretching. He cast a disgruntled look over at Mia and Brian, who were completely oblivious, and held out his hand to Letty.

"Help me get snacks?" He asked. She shrugged and took his hand, letting him pull her up. She followed him into the kitchen, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jeans. She moved around the kitchen, pulling chips out of the cupboard and popping open the bags, tipping them into a big plastic bowl. She turned around to take the bowl back in to the lounge when Dom blocked her path. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Uh…?"

"Happy New Year, Let," Dom said softly, cupping her cheek and leaning down to press his lips to hers. Letty froze in surprise, and then he felt her body relax in to his. The kiss was simple and chaste and warm, and he pulled away before it became anything too serious. She blinked up at him, and he kissed her once more, his thumb running over the smooth skin of her jaw. He took the bowl of chips from her and made his way back to the lounge, leaving Letty standing in the kitchen, one hand still holding the table, so tightly that her knuckles were turning white, and her other hand coming up to touch her rosy mouth.

_I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm actually really enjoying writing this. If there's anything you guys want touched on, maybe a moment you guys want mentioned, let me know, and I can try and work it in! _

_Please leave a review :)_


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